Smoothy makes solid start in Italy

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Cromwell's Sam Smoothy has finished 11th in the season opener of the Freeride World Tour at Italy's Courmayeur Mont Blanc.

The event was originally scheduled for January 17 but adverse conditions left competitors with a nervous five-day wait until the weather finally cleared.

For Smoothy the weather delay turned out to be a bonus. Following surgery to remove his appendix two weeks ago he had planned to sit out the Courmayeur stop; however with a few extra days' recovery time in hand he felt ready to compete yesterday and was able to achieve a solid 11th place finish.

Smoothy is the veteran of the Kiwi contingent, with 2014 his fourth season on the FWT. He is looking to improve on his best season in 2012 where he achieved three FWT podiums. This week's result, while not a career best, was a positive indication that recovery is on track and he will be a name to watch on the 2014 FWT.

Speaking after the competition, Smoothy explained: "With only a handful of runs that morning under my belt due to having my appendix out, I was just looking to ski clean and see how the body reacted to its first hard run. Keeping my fluidity up and taking some airs I ended my run with one of the ugliest 360s of my life but got it around clean and just missed [the] top 10 placing 11th."

In a Big Mountain event, competitors are awarded points judged on line, control, air and style, fluidity and technique. Earning a top score means skiing or snowboarding smooth and fast, preferably taking a technical and challenging line.

Ruari Macfarlane, the only snowboarder on the New Zealand team and a FWT rookie, had the tough task of being the very first competitor of the day.

He came out firing with a very aggressive top section into a styling method. In the fresh powder he seemed to catch an edge, sending him tumbling out of contention for a top placing before another risky air into a chute at the bottom bumped him down the rankings with a final placing of 10th.

Skier Neil Williman, also competing on the FWT for the first time in 2014, took a fast and fall line approach to his run with a double drop which he stomped cleanly. Coming off an illness and injury, Williman was happy with his run and ski form. He finished in 21st place and is looking forward to stepping things up in the next competition in Chamonix in a few days' time.

Charlie Lyons kicked off his tour with his super solid, calculated skiing but, in his own words "didn't have enough air" in his run to finish higher up the rankings against such an aggressively competitive field. He finished in 23rd place.